Our Department is well-equipped to provide students with research opportunities in the areas of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Remote Sensing, Geospatial Information Systems, Global Positioning Systems, Geophysics, Sedimentary rocks, Geochemistry, and Structural Geology and Tectonics.

We have a wide range of research and computer facilities to support graduate students research activities of data acquisition and analysis. Below is a list of the research and computer facilities available to graduate students.

Geochemical Laboratories

The Geochemical labs house sample preparation and analytical facilities. The sample prep lab uses multi-acid digestion and metaborate-tetraborate fusion techniques to take rock samples into solution for analysis.

The analytical lab hosts the following instruments:

A Perkin-Elmer Optima 3300 DV inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) instrument, with both radial and axial determination modes, which permits rapid determination of major and trace elements in rocks and water samples

A Perkin-Elmer Sciex Elan 6100 DRC inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), used for trace and rare earth element determinations to low parts per trillion levels. The DRC (dynamic reaction cell) removes interfering Ar species in the plasma and allows trace determinations of several critical elements such as Fe, As, and Se. This machine is also used for Se isotope determinations

A Dionex DX-600 ion chromatograph, used to determine anions and cations in waters, Cl, F, and Br in rocks, in addition to As and Se speciation

Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry Laboratories

The principal mass spectrometer is a Finnigan MAT 261 equipped with 9 collectors and a secondary electron multiplier.

Also available are an updated NBS 12 inch instrument that is used principally for Rb isotope dilution measurements, and a fixed multicollector, donated by Mobil Oil Corp., that is used for studies of Sr in carbonates.

Studies focus on using the evolution of Sr, Nd and Pb as indexes of petrogenetic processes, geochronology, environmental Pb, use of Pb as an index of bone mineral resorption, and evolution of marine Sr.